Chelsea Affiliated Synagogue

Chelsea, London SW3

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Congregation Data

Name:

Chelsea Synagogue (also known as Chelsea Affiliated Synagogue)⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

Earlier Names:

Victoria and Chelsea Associate Synagogue (1917 until 1949)⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Victoria and Chelsea Synagogue (until 1917 and from 1949 until about 1954)^(iv)

Formation and Address:

The congregation came into being in 1913, when two local residents, Woolf Adler and Julius Nelken (or Nelkin) met by chance in Battersea Park and decided to organise a congregation.^(v)

In 1916, the congregation acquired a leasehold interest in premises at 1 Smith Terrace, Smith Street, Chelsea, London (postcode now SW3 4DL), consisting of a former artist's studio known as The Red House, being the last house in the street. The entrance abutted the gate to a builders or scrap-yard, which was also acquired. The premises were converted for use by the congregation, the upper part being used as a synagogue and the ground floor being used for Hebrew and religious classes, Literary Society meetings and for various social activities.^(vi) Consecration of the synagogue and classrooms took place on 9 September 1917, officiated by Rev. Gustave Prince of Hammersmith Synagogue, who had helped lay the foundations of these institutions, accompanied by the Hammersmith Synagogue choir.^(ix)

In 1949, the congregation purchased the freehold of the Red House for £500 and the adjacent site for £3,500. In 1957, the old building was demolished and a new building (with the synagogue on the ground floor) erected on the site, designed by the architect Cyril Adler, the son of Woolf Adler, one of the two founding fathers of the congregation. (Cyril Adler later became chairman of the congregation.) The builders, Gilbert Ash, deferred their profit for a year in order to assist the congregation.^(x) The building was completed in 1958 and was consecrated in November 1959.

Current Status:

Active

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

The congregation was unaffiliated until joining the United Synagogue under its associate synagogue scheme in 1917, becoming an affiliated synagogue in 1949.^(xi)

Website:

https://www.chelseasynagogue.com

Ministers and Readers:
(To view a short profile of a name shown in blue - hold the cursor over the name.)

Rev. Hyman Miller - minister from about 1925 until his death in office in 1947.^(xv)

Rev. Michael Elton - minister from 1948 until 1951.^(xvi)

Rev. Dr André Frenkel - minister from about 1954 until possibly about 1967.^(xvii)

Michael Eskin - reader in and about 1967.^(xviii)

Rev. R. Goldstein - minister from about 1969 until about 1970.^(xix)

Michael Saunders - lay reader in 1980s.^(xxii)

Rev. Anthony Wolfson - part-time minister/chazan in and about 1988.^(xxiii)

Andrew Marc Rosemarine - temporary minister/chazan in and about 1989.^(xxiv)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Michael A. Atkins - minister from about 1993 until about 2011.^(xxv)

Rabbi Yehuda Efune - minister from 2011 until present (August 2026).^(xxvi)

Lay Officers:

Unless otherwise stated, all data on lay officers has been extracted from listings in Jewish Year Books.^(xxx)

Wardens

1927-1931 - P. Phillips

1931-1946 - no data

1946-1947 - J. Abramson & I. Wieselberg

1947-1948 - J. Abramson & H. Berko

1948-1950 - J. Abramson

1951-1952 - G. Neiken & W. Adler

1952-1953 - R.F. Sims

1953-1956 - R.F. Sims & I. Wieselberg

from 1956 - no data

Presidents

1918-1940 - H. Kosky^(xxxi)

1940-1946 - no data

1946-1950 - J. Nelken

Vice Presidents

1927-1930 - Julius Nelken

1930-1940 - W. Adler

Chairman

1945-1956 - W. Adler^(xxxii)

from 1956 - no data

Treasurers

1922-1946 - S. Smith^(xxxiii)

1946-1947 - M. Boyd Smith

1947-1948 - S. Smith

1948-1949 - S. Smith & Dr. L. Wigoder

1949-1951 - E. Philips & W.E. Wolff

1951-1956 - E. Philips

from 1956 - no data

Secretaries & Hon Secretaries

1916-1939 - P. Levene

1939-1946 - Dr. L. Wigoder^(xxxiv)

1946-1948 - I. Sacks

1948-1951 - S. Marcusfield

1951-1974 - Lionel Silver

1974-1976 - A. Oberman

1976-1985 - L. Goss

1985-1992 - M. Friedman^(xxxv)

Administrators

1992-1996 - M. Friedman

1996-1998 - Diane Davis

1999-2000 - F. Joseph

2000-2003 - Natalie Rose

Breakaway Congregation:

In 2021, a split emerged between the congregation and a breakaway group who set up a modern-orthodox congregation known as the SW3 Minyan. The group was lead by Aron Freedman, and over 80 people attended the inaugural service in private rooms of the Bluebird Cafe, King’s Road, Chelsea on 9 October 2021. The services were led by Rabbi Yossi Fachler.^(xxxviii) The congregation only appeared to have lasted a few months, there being a second and final service on 4 December 2021.

Membership Data:

United Synagogue (male seat-holders)^(xxxix)

1917

1950

1960

1970

52

75

145

125

National Reports & Surveys^(xl)

1977 - 110 male (or household) members and 30 female members

1983 - 94 male (or household) members and 35 female members

1990 - 136 members (comprising 131 households, 1 individual male and 4 individual female members)

1996 - 114 members (comprising 88 households, 16 individual male and 10 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 50 to 99 members (by household)

Charitable Status:

The congregation is supported, in part, by a charitable trust, Chelsea Synagogue Trust, a registered charity, CIO registration, (registered charity no. 1101862), registered on 2 February 2004.^(xli)

Local Government Districts:

Chelsea is an affluent area of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (an inner London borough, with royal status, created on 1 April 1965), within the administrative area of Greater London.^(xlii)

Previously, it was in in the former Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea (created in 1900) in the former County of London, which entities were abolished in 1965.

Registration District (BMD):

Kensington and Chelsea from 1 July 1981^(xliii) - Link to Register Office website

Worship Registration:

The synagogue Smith Terrace is registered as a Place of Worship - Worship Register Number 46804 - under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855.^(xliv)

Cemetery
Information:

For United Synagogue cemeteries, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue.

Online Articles, Bibliography and Other Material
relating to this Congregation

on JCR-UK

London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea bibliography, including:
- Chelsea Shul, Fourscore Years (1997), Published by the congregation

General

The trustees' reports and financial statements of Chelsea Synagogue Trust filed with the Charity Commission (pdf):
- for the years ended 31 December 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Other Organisations & Institutions
connected to this congregation

Educational

Hebrew & Religious Classes - founded by 1916. There were 23 pupils in 1922 and 33 in 1923.^(l)

Other Institutions

Ladies Guild - founded by 1945.^(li)
Social and Literary Society - founded by 1947.^(lii)

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) Although the congregation is generally referred to as Chelsea Synagogue (for example, generally on its website), it is also referred to as Chelsea Affiliated Synagogue, which is the name under which it was listed in Jewish Year Books from from 1962 until the last edition (2015). ↵
(iii) The name during which the congregation was an associate synagogue, when it was also known as Victoria and Chelsea Synagogue, based on its Jewish Year Book listings.. ↵
(iv) The congregation was listed under this name in the Jewish Year Books until 1954. ↵
(v) The congregation website, accessed July 2026 and Peter Renton's The Lost Synagogues of London, 2000, p. 147. ↵
(vi) Peter Renton's The Lost Synagogues of London, 2000, p. 147. ↵
(vii) and (viii) Reserved.
(ix) Order of Service of 9 September 1917 - 22 Ellel 5677 (London Metropolitan Archives). ↵
(x) Peter Renton's The Lost Synagogues of London, 2000, p. 147. To view a description of the Jewish architectural works by Cyril Adler, hold your cursor over his name. ↵
(xi) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pp. 222/3. ↵
(xii) to (xiv) Reserved.
(xv) First listed as minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Book 1926 and last listed in the 1948 edition. ↵
(xvi) Listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1949 through 1951. ↵
(xvii) Rev. Dr A Frenkel is listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1955 through 1967. Michael Jolles's Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, etc. (2024) ("Jolles's Encyclopaedia"), p.606, refers to "Andre Frenkel, aged 32 in 1951; born in Budapest; arrived in Britain in January 1950; officiated briefly at Birmingham; appointed in 1952 to minister at Victoria and Chelsea synagogue". However in Birmingham Central Synagogue's Souvenir Brochure of 16 April 1961 it refers to "Rev. Andor Frankel, of Paris" being appointed briefly as chazan in 1950. ↵
(xviii) Jolles's Encyclopaedia, p. 446; and communication from Michael Eskin's sister. ↵
(xix) Based solely on Rev. R. Goldstein's listing as minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Books 1970. ↵
(xx) and (xxi) Reserved.
(xxii) Jolles's Encyclopaedia, p. 967. ↵
(xxiii) Rev. Wolfson's profile accompanying YouTube video. ↵
(xxiv) Jolles's Encyclopaedia, pp. 832/2. ↵
(xxv) Appearing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books, listed as Rev. M. Atkins from 1994 through 1997 and Rabbi M. Atkins from 1998 through 2012. His successor took office in 2011. ↵
(xxvi) Limmud.com 2018 website gives Rabbi Y. Efume's start date at Chelsea as 2011. He appears as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 2013 until the last edition (2015) and was still shown as minister on the congregation's website, last accessed August 2026. ↵
(xxvii) to (xxix) Reserved.
(xxx) Where a person is first listed in a year book as holding a particular office, it has been assumed that his term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book (which was generally towards the end of the year prior to the year appearing in the title of the year book) and that he continued in office until the commencement of office of his successor, unless the office was vacant (e.g. if he is listed in Jewish Year Books 1935 through 1938, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1934 and continued in office until 1938). However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and accordingly his actual years of office may differ slightly from those shown here. Jewish Year Books were not published during WWII subsequent to 1940. There were no Jewish Year Book listings of officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵
(xxxi) H. Kosky was listed as a JP from 1920 and as an alderman from 1926 through 1932. ↵
(xxxii) W. Adler was listed as chairman in the Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1950 and from 1952 through 1956, and it is presumed that his non-listing in 1951 was an oversight. ↵
(xxxiii) S. Smith was listed as treasurer of the congregation in Jewish Year Books both prior to, and following, the wartime suspension of publication and it is presumed that he also served during the intervening years. ↵
(xxxiv) Dr. L. Wigoder was listed as hon. secretary of the congregation in Jewish Year Books both prior to, and following, the wartime suspension of publication and it is presumed that he also served during the intervening years. ↵
(xxxv) The name was spelled M. Freedman in Jewish Year Books 1986 through 1989. ↵
(xxxvi) to (xxxvii) Reserved.
(xxxvii) Jewish News report of 14 October 2021. ↵
(xxxix) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 218/9. ↵
(xl) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. ↵
(xli) Charity Commission website, accessed July 2026. Clicking on the charity number of this will take you to the charity's registration on the Charity Commission website. ↵
(xlii) The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the former Royal (Metropolitan) Borough of Kensington and the former Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea, both of which had been within the former County of London. ↵
(xliii) The former Registration Districts were Kensington, from 1 July 1837 until 7 July 1841, and Chelsea, from 7 July 1841 until 1 July 1981. All registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵
(xliv) Page 740 of the 2010 List of Places of Worship ↵
(xlv) to (xlix) Reserved.
(l) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1917. Number of pupils taken respectively from the 1923 and 1924 editions. ↵
(li) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(lii) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1948. ↵

List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

Greater London home page

Page created: 18 October 2006
Notes first added: 8 January 2018
Data significantly expanded : 31 July 2026
Page most recently amended: 4 August 2026

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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